Necticut



' PATBNTED JAN; 5', 1904.

B. WOODRUFF & T. WQR. MGGABE. CLOCK CASE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 1']. 1896.

N0 MODEL.

- of the cover or back plate.

UNITED STATES Patented January 5, 1904;.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. WOODRUFF AND THOMAS W. R. MOCABE, OF VVINSTED, CON- NECTICUT, ASSIGNORS TO \VILLIAM L. GILBERT CLOCK COMPANY, OF WINSTED, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

CLOCK-CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,679, dated January 5, 1904.

Application filed July 17. 1896. $erial No. 599,478. (No model.)

To aZZ whom/it may concern:

Be it known that We,GEORGE B. WOODRUFF and THOMAS W. R. MOCABE, citizens of the United States, and residents of Ninsted, in the county of Litchfield and State of Conn ectiout, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Clock-Cases, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

The object of the within invention is to pro vide a clock-case which shall embody a removable cover or back piece having fastening means which do not include screws or the like, so that the cover or back piece may be easily secured in place or as easily and quickly removed.

To this end the invention consists in the combinations of the several parts making up the structure as a whole, as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a detail view in rear elevation of oneform of the clock-case,showing the removable back piece fastened in place. Fig. 2 is a view showing the parts unlocked. Fig. 3 is a view in section through the back part of the case,illustrating the locking means. Fig. 4 is a view in section of the case and in side view of the back plate, illustrating the operation of the locking device.

Our within-described invention is particularly applicable to that large class of clocks of comparatively cheap make in which the outer drum-shaped case has a removable back plate to which the clock-movements are secured. This particular class of clocks is illus trated in the within drawings, the case only being shown as important to the invention or an understanding of it. In clocks of this construction the drum-shaped case 0t, usually of thin metal, has a removable back plate I), to which the time-keeping parts of the clock are usually connected. This back plate b has a flange b, and in prior clocks of this class the back plate or coveris removably secured by means of screws extending through and through the wall of the case and the flange When screws or bolts are used for this purpose, a special tool, as a screw-d river, is required to unfasten the parts, and in addition to the expense of such construction the screws or bolts are liable to become lost. The back plate b,while flexible, is adapted to give unusual strength-for instance, a circular rib is pressed out concentric with the periphery of the circular back plate, and extending outward from this are pressed-out ribs radiating from the central pressed-up portion.

In the practice of our invention the cover or back plate and the shell of the clock-case are provided with interengaging locking parts, a socket c in the one part, as the case, receiving a projecting lug d on the other part, usually the interengaging parts being so arranged that they are readily engaged each with the other when the cover or back plate is slipped into position. To hold this cover or back plate in place, a pivoted latch d is arranged to engage a latch-socket 0, formed in the inner surface of the case, the end of the latch taking into the socket and by contact with the edge thereof holding the cover against any outward movement while the latch is in the position as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

When the clock-case consists of thin metal, the socket may be formed in shape of a slot cut through and through the wall of the case, or it may be any equivalent form of socket to meet the requirements of the material of the case and need not be in form of a slot opening through and through the substance of the wall. The lug is preferably formed integral with the material of the back plate or of the shell of the case, and there may be one or more of such lugs formed on one side of the back plate or cover, the latch being on the opposite edge, although where the exact location of the cover as to the distance it may be inserted in the case is determined by a shoulder (as by the overturned flanged edge of the cover, as illustrated in the drawings) a latch may be substituted for the lug and socket. The latch is preferably made when nsedin connection with a clock-case of thin metal having considerable elasticity or flexibility and its length is such as to form astop of the back edge d of the latch d, which by contact with the end of the slot or socket prevents the latch from being accidentally swung out of engagement with the socket. The slight flexibilityin the wall of the thin metal clock-case allows it to yield as soon as a slight degree of pressure is applied in opening the latch, so as to allow the latch to swing open far enough to carry it out of engagement with the side wall of the socket. When the latch is swung aside into the position indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the back plate can be tilted outward, as indicated in Fig. 4, and then readily removed, together with the parts of the clock-movement, when they are secured to the back plate, as is a common custom in this class of clocks as made at the present time.

By means of our improvement a cheap and simple fastening means is provided that is always attached to and, in effect, a part of the clock-case and the back plate, and these fastening means are of such simple construction and so easy to manipulate as to remove all the defects of the prior fastening means in common use.

It is evident that our invention is not limited to use in connection with clock-cases of metal or any other material, but can be readily adapted to clock-cases of all the several materials in common use or which may be adapted for use in the making of clock-cases.

We claim as our invention- 1. In combination, a tubular case having a socket formed by depressing a portion of the material of the case, a removable cover or back of cup shape arranged to fit within the tubular case and having a projection pressed out from the material of the cover and adapted to engage the recess formed by pressing out the material of the case, an opening through the peripheral edge of the cup-shaped cover, and a pivoted latch pivoted to the cover and arranged to be swung through the opening in the cover and the opening in the tubularcase.

2. In combination with a tubular case having a latch-socket through the wall thereof "masts and a depression formed in the wall of said tubular case by pressing out the material of the case, said depression being at a point substantially diametrically opposite the latchsocket, a removable cover having a pressedont lug adapted to fit within the recess in the socket and an opening arranged to register with the latch-socket of the case with the parts in place, and a pivoted latch adapted to be swung through the openings of the cover and the case.

3. In combination with a tubular case, a cover of cup shape arranged to fit closely within the tubular case and provided with a peripheral lip adapted to abut against the edge of the case, a depression formed in the case on one side by forcing out the material thereof, a projection on the cover formed by forcing outward the material of the cover said projection adapted to engage the depression in the case, a slot through the wall of the case substantially opposite the depression therein and a slot in the cover substantially opposite the projection therefrom, and a latch pivoted upon the cover and arranged to be swung through theopenings in the cover and case when they are brought into registering positions.

4. In combination with a tubular case, a removable cover or back having a rib forced up from the materialof the cover and substantially concentric with the rim thereof, ribs forced up from the material of the cover and arranged radially. to the concentric rib, a projection forced out of the material of the cover on one edge and adapted to register and lie within the depression formed by pressing out the material of the case, registering openings through the cover and case substantially opposite said depression and projection, and a pivoted latch arranged upon the cover and adapted to be swunginto the registering opening through the cover and case.

GEORGE B. WOODRUFF.

, THOMAS W. R. MCOABE. Witnesses:

J. G. W OODRUFF,

HUBERT P. WETMORE. 

